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11 Sep 2006 : Column 2226W—continued
National Asylum Support Service
Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason the National Asylum Support Services stakeholder briefing pack for target contracts-transition document has been removed from the Department’s website. [84598]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 11 July 2006]: The stakeholder briefing pack for the target contracts—transition phase has not been removed from the Department’s website. However the website link to this briefing pack has recently changed. The new link is: http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applying/nass/news andinfo/projects/nassaccommodationproject/stake holderengagement
Offender Managers
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a date has been set for introducing Going Straight contracts between offenders and offender managers as set out in the five year strategy for protecting the public and reducing re-offending. [80377]
Mr. Sutcliffe: Proposals on Going Straight contracts will be developed by the National Offender Management Service, alongside the implementation and delivery of Offender Management. Decisions on their possible content and implementation have yet to be made.
Olympics
Mr. Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which officials in his Department (a) are responsible for Olympics-related activity and (b) sit on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group for the Olympics. [81564]
Mr. Byrne: The Director of Specialist Crime is responsible for Olympic-related activity within the Home Office and is a member of the Inter-Departmental Steering Group.
Opinion Polling
Mr. Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what issues his Department has conducted opinion polling in the last 12 months. [88944]
John Reid: The Home Office undertakes a wide range of research activities that support the development of information-led policy, including surveys of public opinion that consider Home Office issues and its related areas of responsibility.
The Department commissions such work only when it is justified by the specific needs of a particular policy or programme and when this is the most economic, efficient and effective way to achieve the purpose. Consulting and involving the public helps inform both policy formulation and delivery of better quality public services.
Opinion polls have been conducted in the last 12 months on the following issues:
Identity Cards
Late night businesses’ attitudes to alcohol related crime and disorder
Offending behaviour programmes delivered to offenders serving community sentences
Public concern about organised crime
Prison Service Staff Issues
Measuring the Quality of Prison Life
Evaluation of Intensive Supervision and Monitoring schemes for persistent offenders
Cognitive Skills Booster Evaluation
Juvenile cohort feasibility
Single intervention Randomised Control Trial feasibility
Satellite tracking
National Evaluation of Community Safety Officers
Perceptions of border control among the travelling public
Northwest Offender Management Pathfinder
Employment Pathfinder
Investigating the Targeting, Tailoring and Sequencing of Interventions feasibility study
Evaluation of neighbourhood policing
Crime Patterns.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to question 67922, on release of foreign prisoners, tabled by the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome for named day answer on 3 May. [70179]
Mr. Byrne: I replied to the hon. Member on 13 July 2006, Official Report, column 2020W.
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to Questions (a) 68921, (b) 68923, (c) 68918, (d) 68919, (e) 68920, (f) 68922 and (g) 68924, on prisoners, tabled on 3 May by the hon. Member for Wellingborough. [79465]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 22 June 2006]: In respect of questions 68920 and 68922 I replied to the hon. Member on 29 June 2006, Official Report, column 634W.
With regard to questions 68918, 68919, 68921, 68923 and 68924 my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Sutcliffe) replied on 13 July 2006, Official Report, column 2031W.
Mr. Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will answer question 67756, on prisoners released from Shepton Mallet prison, tabled by the right hon. Member for Wells on 27 April 2006. [81662]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 3 July 2006]: I refer the right hon. Member to my reply of 29 June 2006, Official Report, column 646W.
Passports
John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at what stage of the process passport applications are assessed for rejection. [89170]
Joan Ryan: The current process for checking passport applications has two main stages: an initial check that the application has been fully completed and all necessary documents have been provided, followed by examination to establish the identity and nationality of the applicant. If a deficiency is found at the first stage, an explanation is given of what is needed to correct the problem. If the application has been made in person at either a post office, any accredited travel agent or a regional passport office, the incomplete or incorrect application is handed back with the explanation and the passport fee is not taken. If the application has been made by post, the form and fee are retained and a letter is sent either asking for missing documents or a fresh application form, depending on the problem.
The action taken to resolve problems encountered during the examination stage varies. The Identity and Passport Service will not issue a passport until the applicant's identity and nationality have been established.
Police
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hours he expects to spend working on police reorganisation until the end of 2006. [68612]
Mr. McNulty: The Home Secretary and his Ministerial team have had and will continue to have various meetings and conversations with officials and interested parties to discuss general policing matters and police reform. It is not possible to quantify the amount of time each has spent or will spend discussing the specific issue of police restructuring.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the total police staff hours, including uniformed staff and support staff, that will be spent on duties related to the release of foreign offenders in (a) 2006 and (b) 2007. [68614]
Mr. Byrne: The level of detail requested is not required under the Annual Data Return that must be submitted to the Department by police forces in England and Wales. We would not wish to impose additional burdens on police forces by asking them to carry out such ad hoc surveys. The police continue to play a key role in working with all other relevant agencies to pursue those cases where foreign national prisoners were released without due consideration.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about the performance of police in (a) Essex and (b) Southend in each of the last seven years. [46394]
Mr. McNulty [holding answer 30 January 2006]: The current and previous Home Secretary have received numerous representations regarding police forces in England and Wales. In addition, there have been formal reports published relating to the performance of the police service and of Essex police force specifically. These can be found on the websites for Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) at http://inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmic/ and the Home Office at http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/performance-and-measurement/performance-assessment/assessments-2004-2005/
The next police performance assessments will be published in October.
The latest HMIC publication regarding Southend was the BCU inspection report (September 2003) and the report of the follow-up visit (December 2004).
Port Security
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 11 July 2006, Official Report, column 1676W, on port security, for how long each day the port of Swansea has immigration, customs and security services present; and which ports' immigration, customs and security teams provide an out-of-hours service to the port of Swansea. [86449]
Mr. Byrne: Small ports such as Swansea are staffed in a targeted way based on risk and supported by reliable intelligence. It is believed to be the most effective method of countering the overall threat, and the best use of the finite staff resources.
This information cannot be disclosed as this would provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent HM Revenue & Customs' controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime.
Prisoners
Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many British criminals sentenced to custody abroad have been deported to the UK after sentence in each of the last five years. [68802]
Mr. Byrne: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South West Devon (Mr. Streeter) on 19 June 2006, Official Report, column 1670W.
Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2005, Official Report, column 57W, on prisoners, if he will confirm that the figures provided for 2004-05 are for the first three quarters of the year; and when the figures for January to March 2005 will be available. [30985]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The figures in respect of prisoners released on parole licence were the figures for the whole year as reported by the Parole Board in its annual report 2004-05. The Parole Board has confirmed that it has not been notified of any further charges since the answer was laid.
The figures in respect of prisoners released on to the home detention curfew scheme were the figures for the year as a whole as notified to the Home Office at the point the question was laid. Data in respect of re-offending on the home detention curfew scheme are changing constantly as new information is received. This is because notifications of further offences, either by the police or other criminal justice agencies, is supplemented by a quarterly interrogation of the police national computer or through notification of acquittals or withdrawal of charges.
The total number of charges as currently notified to the Home Office in respect of prisoners on the home detention curfew scheme for the whole of the year 2004-05 is 1,313. This figure is likely to be further amended as new information is received.
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people, who were later found not to be guilty of the offences for which they were imprisoned, were imprisoned in England and Wales in each year since 1998. [49865]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The information is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate costs.
Prisons
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the relative efficiency of the Prison Service and the private sector in delivering penal services; and if he will make a statement. [48507]
Mr. Sutcliffe: The relative efficiency of public sector and private sector delivery of penal services has been assessed through market testing. Each of the four prisons which had been managed by the private sector after opening in the early 1990s was market tested before the expiry of their contracts. In the case of two, Blakenhurst and Buckley Hall, the management was won by the Prison Service. The private sector retained the management of the other two, Doncaster and Wolds. In addition the Prison Service managed Manchester in accordance with a service level agreement (SLA) following a market test after it re-opened in 1994. The management was market tested again, in 2000, and the Prison Service won the competition and was awarded a new SLA.
The individual efficiency of all prisons, including the nine prisons designed, constructed, managed and financed under the private finance initiative, is assessed quarterly through the performance rating system which comprises a raft of performance measures such as cost performance and findings from external inspections.
Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are used to determine whether a prison is meeting the obligations contained in its service level agreement. [63294]
Mr. Byrne: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) requires Service Providers to deliver high quality services as specified in the Service Level Agreement (SLA), including high performance against an operational requirements specification. Each SLA contains a Performance Measurement System (PMS) that is designed to measure the Service Providers’ delivery of the operational requirements in key areas over an agreed period.
Compliance with the requirements of the SLA includes achieving all Service Delivery Targets and providing NOMS with quality assurance systems, principally through a comprehensive self-audit programme supplemented with a range of policy documents and procedural guidance to staff, together with a meetings structure that ensures that performance, standards and contractual compliance are achieved.
Private Finance Initiative
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department by what total amount private finance initiative projects for which his Department is responsible that went over budget did so in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [83649]
Mr. Byrne: I am advised that none of the private finance initiative projects for which the Home Department is responsible went over budget in the last five years.
Public Bodies (Reorganisation)
Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he plans to take to ensure that the consultation on non-departmental public bodies includes Welsh organisations. [88175]
Mr. Byrne [holding answer 25 July 2006]: In the Home Office Action Plan, From Improvement to Transformation, we announced an in-depth review of the Home Office's non-departmental public bodies. We have already written to the bodies concerned and we aim to consult as widely as possible when we begin to develop our proposals.
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